Project Summary
The characteristic features of IMPERIUM are a physical electronic cigarette that measures the users vaping habits and a human-first interface that displays historical data and allows family/friends to join in to support the journey. IMPERIUM utilizes the user’s historical data utilizing habitual behavior learning algorithms to assess and develop a personalized vaping “control” or “quitting” plan. This data makes the cessation process work with a higher rate of success for the health of the user and provide a human-first plan to combat the addictive traits of e-cigarettes.
In the physical model, the button connection that closes the electrical current will be utilized to measure the time the user spends inhaling and displays this data in the home-screen of the app. The goal is for the app to collect enough information to utilize habitual behavior learning algorithms to assess and develop a personalized vaping “control plan” or a “quitting plan”, depending on the user’s goal. This data makes the cessation process work with a higher rate of success for the health of the user and provide a human-first plan to combat the addictive traits of e-cigarrettes.
The Challenge
A 2019 study indicates that 80% of cigarette smokers that switch to e-cigarettes as a cessation method will continue to vape a year later. Due to the high levels of nicotine found in e-cigarettes, the belief that vapes are a better alternative to smoking regular cigarettes is misguiding and inaccurate.
The introduction of affordable and disposable vaping pods have made it a popular accessory for teenagers to wear -- more so with the addition of fruity and tropical flavors. Even with the knowledge that nicotine is bad for your health, this presents a challenging problem because the “cool” image vapes can give to young adults can lead to a lifetime of nicotine addiction.
User Research
Interviewing current e-cigarette users, it was discovered that many young users will reach out to their e-cigarettes without thinking of their actions. Two personas were identified as the type of users to focus on based on their goals:
Solution(s)
Design Goals to Design Solutions
After the user research phase, we identified aspects of the experience that users would attain from the solution. The following 5 design goals were the identified targets for the design work. The solution needed to be thought-less, keep users honest to achieve accountability, this would improve the user's confidence through a well-designed personalized plan of action. Afterwards, the 5 design goals were narrowed down into 3 design solutions.
Information Architecture
To better help future users identify their desired goal and information to help them reach it, we focused on organizing and structuring the user flow according to the two identified goals: control or quit vaping.
This approach allowed us to prototype on three different paths both for the physical product and the digital interface:
💨 Puff Counting ❤️ Community 📆 My Plan
Final Designs
IMPERIUM is a two-part solution that involves a physical product and a digital interface that are connected to track the user's historical vaping data to generate a personalized plan to control or quit vaping. IMPERIUM consists of a physical product and an accompanying app to be a human-first mobile application that tracks the user's habits through the physical vaping device, collects the habitual information of the user, and displays historical data in a digestible dashboard.
Physical Products
In the physical model, the button connection that closes the electrical current will be utilized to measure the time the user spends inhaling and displays this data in the home-screen of the app.
Physical Structure
Taking advantage of the electronics already in the market, the physical structure of IMPERIUM is designed with microchips and sensors easily accessible to users. All electronics are compatible with each other and connect to the app via Bluetooth.
Digital Interface
The IMPERIUM app is designed to be a human-first mobile application that tracks the user’s habits and displays historical data in a digestible dashboard. The app allows family and friends to join in to support the journey. The app will collect enough information to utilize habitual behavior learning algorithms to assess and develop a personalized vaping plan: either a “control plan” or a “quitting plan”, depending on the user’s goal.
Final Scenario
